Following the team with a unique perspective on all things Phillies.Email me: PhilliesPhollowers@comcast.net – Peace, Love & Baseball – Jenn

Halladay Tames the Giants

In the recent past, Roy Halladay has not had a lot of luck against the Giants. And with 2 Cy-Young winners facing off, Monday night’s game was set-up to be a real battle. It was also a nice opportunity for me to repost one of my favorite photoshop experiments. Meet Darth Vader (Lincecum) & Luke Skywalker (Halladay). Can you guess who the evil emperor is?

Back to the game…the battle ended really before it began as a struggling Tim Lincecum got torched by the Phils in the first inning to the tune of 4 runs. You can usually assume a 4-run lead is safe with Halladay on the mound. Actually, I do not believe Halladay has ever lost a game when his team scores 4 in the first.

This would be no different. Halladay had what has become a traditional hiccup in the 1st inning, allowing a run on 2 hits, 2 walks and a sac fly. But after that, he was mostly on point.

And seeing his offense get him some early runs had to help. Placido Polanco started off the game with a double to right. Jimmy Rollins walked and then 3 consecutive hits, including another double from Laynce Nix rocked the Giants early.

Freddy Galvis hit a double in the 4th as well, giving the Phillies 3 extra base hits in the game, which have been very hard to come by so far this year. And of course, not only was Halladay brilliant on the mound, he also collected his first RBI of the season in that same inning with a single to score Galvis.

Tonight Joe Blanton will pitch against Madison Bumgarner and his brand-spanking new five-year, $35 million contract extension. Bumgarner is only 22 years old. And yes, only the Giants would sign a 22-year old to that sort of deal. That is a lot of pressure for a young kid to live up to. I wish him luck, except when he faces the Phillies, of course ;o) Game time is 10:15pm.

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